Losing Picante Mexican Grill

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Well, it _was_ my favorite place for brunch in the square, but when we went there today, there was a sign up on the door that after 15 years, they have lost their lease, and their last day open will be the 23rd of December.

The usual story: owner wanted to increase the rent, and the restaurant either couldn't afford it or didn't want to take the risk. They are looking for another location (they also have a Central Square restaurant), but haven't found one yet. According to the waitress, the owner did have some second thoughts about raising the rent, but by that time, he had already signed a new lease, for Mike's Hot Dogs (or maybe it was Spike's?). Hot dogs. Oh boy.

It would be great if they could find another location in the Square (or nearby), but what are the chances?

Comments

[myselftheliar.livejournal.com]

that sucks

not to try and take buisness away from Picante, but I must say El Guapo in Ball sq is really excellent too.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

spike's junkyard dogs from providence! wow.

http://www.spikesjunkyarddogs.com/

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

YES! After hanging out in Salem and being spoiled by veggie dogs at the hot dog place there (I can't remember the name offhand), I've been wishing we would get a hot dog place around here!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

Much of my wow is because I never realized Spike's went beyond the place on Thayer Street. :) But I never actually ate there when I was in school because they didn't have veggie dogs then.

[cutieperson]

there's another Spike's in Providence, over by Club Hell :) and at least one other one... somewhere.


mmm, i adore their chili cheese dogs.

[tahnan.livejournal.com]

I'll second the "wow" on that one--while I feel bad for the loss of the Picante (not, er, that I ever got around to trying it), I do like Spike's.

[elements.livejournal.com]

I'm thirding the wow. Veggie dogs available for all the hot dog options! And nice sides too. If anything they'll be a competitor to RedBones, but RB is so popular (and often so overcrowded) and such an institution that I hope they won't be hurt.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

RB won't be hurt by spikes... very very very different style of food and atmosphere.

[cosinezero.livejournal.com]

I grew up on Spike's on thayer. Them moving to Davis rules so hard.

[spatch]

Times I was in Picante: 1, maybe 2
Times I will be in Spike's: A bazillion

This is good good news!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Are you sure that's what it is? I thought she said "Spike's," but my brunch companion heard "Mike's." Either way, I'm not thrilled about hot dogs.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure at all. When I read your post, it reminded me of Spike's in Providence, so I did a web searchm found out they've grown, and made a guess.

I liked Picante's okay, though I almost never ate there, so I don't have much of a personal stake in this either way. The idea of being able to get a veggie dog out has appeal, but I doubt I'll do it very often.

Spike's is in Allston

[ron_newman]

Their website says they're mostly in Rhode Island, but they have one store in Allston. Anyone been there? Is it any good?

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Bugger. I rather liked the food there.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I still miss Mr. Crepe.

[elements.livejournal.com]

Heartily seconded!

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Thirded!

[ron_newman]

Even though the food is quite different, I wonder if Anna's has hurt Picante's business.

[cos]

I prefer Anna's, but they use chicken broth for their rice, so anytime there's a vegetarian in the group, we go to Picante instead. Now what are the options for Mexican nearby?

This won't suck nearly as badly as losing Dolly's did, though. Nothing like it has reappeared anywhere nearby (or, really, anywhere in metro Boston that I know of).

[ron_newman]

Nearest Mexican food to Davis Square: Rudy's in Teele Square, Tu Y Yo in Powderhouse Circle, Qdoba in Porter Square.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

You can still eat at Anna's as a vegetarian, if you don't get rice added to anything. Who needs all that filler anyway? :-}

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

And stay away from the refried beans as well, unless they changed away from lard recently.

[hammercock.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I would have figured that one. I've never liked refritos anyway. I always get black beans instead.

[mrpet.livejournal.com]

Picante had better black beans. Anna's never cooked them enough.

[cos]

Actually Anna's rice is one of the things I most like about their food. But yeah, as the comment below notes, lots of their other ingredients are not veggie-safe either.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

O Dolly's how I miss you at the Kay and Chips.

[kalessin.livejournal.com]

*sigh*, the new folks around here, they'll never know the pleasure of a breakfast restaurant that was open from 11pm to 7am, with decent food, good music, and the lights turned down low all night long...

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I like Anna's better for burritos, but I adore the Picante's Huevos Picante (deep fried taco shell, loaded with beans and salsa and poached eggs) with a side of camotes. An excellent brunch.

[philbot.livejournal.com]

Woohoo hot dogs! I'm happy with Anna's anyway. For really good Mexican, I like Olé out in Arlington.

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

Aw. Damn. I have all these coupons from the Star Market for there....

[julyana.livejournal.com]

NO NO NO!!!!!!

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

That sucks, I really like(d) them. :(

[inahandbasket]

noooooooooo!
Bummer, I hope they find a new place!

[ron_newman]

The neighbors prevented restaurants from moving into the Citizens Bank building, but I wonder if they'd reconsider if it meant keeping a local favorite in the square?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Probably not, given the number of cries for bringing back Mr. Crepe, which was one of the planned tenants for said space.

[antimony.livejournal.com]

:(

I love going there, grabbing take-out on my way home from work, etc.. And I a) am vegetarian and thus it was one of the few mexican fast-food-ish places I could get food at and b) don't like Anna's food that much anyways.

I do like Spike's, but would rather see it go in alongside, not instead of.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

Picante is SO MUCH MORE expensive than Anna's and I don't like their food nearly as much. Besides people, there's still one in Central if you need a fix :)

All hail hot dogs on this side of the river .... mmmm

[abilouise.livejournal.com]

Picante's roasted poblano chicken burrito is/was the bomb. I found their prices a little higher but their ingredients seemed better to me somehow. But then again, I don't eat pork so the carnitas was totally lost on me.

[chumbolly.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on that Poblano chicken burrito. That thing could feed two people and was so-oo good! I admit a fair bit of my business went from Piquante's to Anna's, mainly because of price, but I've since sworn off Anna's ever since my wife got a roach in her taco there. The folks behind the counter gave her a refund, but they seemed none too suprised to see the little fella.

I feel bad about this ...

[ron_newman]

... because Picante was one of the original Davis Square pioneers. When they opened in 1990, that part of Elm Street was quite run-down, with nothing open at night except for a few dive bars. Picante helped to make Davis Square what it is today.